By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, May 23: The regional chapter of Tibetan Youth Congress marked the 66th year since the so-called ‘17-Point Agreement’ was signed with skit illustrating the circumstances under which the Tibetan representatives were forced to sign the document.
“We (Tibetans) should never forget the day and spread awareness on how the agreement was signed under duress. We should prove that Tibetan roots cannot be destroyed by such a sham and aware the world that China has continuously used such tactics to fool the world,” said Lhakpa Tsering, President of RTYC Dharamsala.
The short street theatre was to spread awareness, Lhakpa Tsering said, about what the Tibetan representatives underwent before the forceful signing of the ‘agreement’.
On 23 May 1951, Tibetan delegation led by Ngabo Nagwang Jigme was forced to sign the ’17-point Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet’, which Beijing uses as proof to claim its control over Tibet.
The 83-year-old Sonam Dorjee who was in Tibet when the agreement was signed said that it was done under Chinese pressure with Tibetans having no say in it.
“When I heard the agreement was signed, I had a feeling that we lost our independence and I had a lingering sense of lost and sadness,” recalls Sonam who was in his 20s when the event took place over six decades ago.
Sonam added that a lot of problems were created by the Chinese in Tibet after the ‘agreement’ was signed. ‘It did nothing but oppression of Tibetan people,’ he said.
Though the Chinese government celebrates it as the day marking the ‘peaceful liberation of Tibet’, the Tibetans see it as the death knell to the centuries-old independence.
“When the agreement was initially signed I had hopes, but looking at the current situation we gained no benefits. I believe in complete freedom of Tibet and Tibetans are the rightful owner of Tibet. I feel the agreement is not at all favorable to us at all,” said Dr. Thogmey, a long-time resident of Dharamsala.
Many scholars, including historian Tsering Shakya, state that in the eyes of the international community the signing of the ’17-point agreement’ ended Tibetan independence.
